Terror On The High Seas

Terror On The High Seas
Date of Scene:	17 April 2013
Location:	Faris' Ship
Synopsis:	Exdeath has returned; Gilgamesh is terrified; Faris asks questions.
Cast of Characters:	Faris Scherwiz, Gilgamesh

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Gilgamesh has posed:
It's troubling, what happens when you're connected to things beyond your control. The ancient mystery swordsman of ancient mystery, Gilgamesh, is of course sensitive to that sort of thing when it comes to his ancient and terrible secret master, the armored eldritch nightmare Exdeath. Gilgamesh is sensitive to Exdeath's moods; he is aware of his master's return better than any alive, and now he is forced into a terrible moral choice: aid the people who are hunting his master and betray the dark god and bet on their ability to kill him, or continue to be loyal and keep his secret.

Gilgamesh isn't good at moral dilemmas.

He's sitting on deck of the ship, hunched over, silent. Enkidu, the Dog Wonder, is nowhere to be seen.

This is a toughie.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
So, here's what happen when Gilgamesh goes silent and Enkidu, the Dog Wonder, is Sir Enkidu Not Appearing In This Scene. This is what happens: Faris Scherwiz, the Lady Of The Pirates, Queen of the Pirates, and Princess, gets worried.

As Gilgamesh continues brooding, Faris slips down to sit next to him, the crew bare bones right now, looking out at the calm blue sea. "Gilgamesh..." She says, her voice soft and warm.

"Are you okay?"

Gilgamesh has posed:
"Ah! Yes! Sarisa! I'm fine! I'm alright." Gilgamesh's head jerks up to stare at her, his white eyes wide. He lets out a laugh, his hand going behind his head. "I'm just fine. Nothing is wrong! Are you fine? Are you alright? Is something wrong? Did you come looking for me because you need a heroic rescue? A monster defeated? An evil villain vanquished? Because I am here for that! I am a hero! Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Urgh.

Gilgamesh springs to his feet and flexes for a moment, then points out at the sea. "Where is the boat going, anyhow? Perhaps I should bounce ahead and make sure that there are no problems or dangers on the road! Won't take but a minute!"

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Well, that was extremely jumpy of Gilgamesh. Faris sighs and settles herself more comfortably into her seat, resting her arms and her chin on her knees as she keeps her legs drawn up. Then she shakes her head at a him for a few seconds.

"I'm fine - and I wouldn't need a rescue if I'm standing right next to you, right? There are no monsters, or evil villains. At least, not... here. Not yet." She looks away into the see, her green eyes sad.

"We're going home. To Tycoon."

Gilgamesh has posed:
"Tycoon, eh? Are you going to go reclaim your kingdom and become the princess you were always meant to be? Are you going there to free it from some kind of monster?"

Gilgamesh *is* unusually jumpy today. He stands there for a moment, then relaxes. He didn't have to make the decision /right now/, right? It wasn't like Lord Exdeath was going to show up on the boat and go GILGAMESH YOU HAD BETTER KILL THAT GIRL RIGHT NOW, right? Lord Exdeath probably didn't even know where he was! Ha ha ha! And if he did, he could always apologize and pretend he was trying to spy on them so he knew their weaknesses! Exdeath would probably believe that!

...b-but so would Sarisa, and...

Well. That just made him sad.

Gilgamesh gets really quiet for a moment, just looming over Sarisa, his shoulders down. Then, he considers a way to ask the question.../carefully/.

"I have this...friend."

Oh lord.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris gives Gilgamesh a sharp look when he nails the idea on the head in the /very first pair of sentences he says/. Then she closes her eyes and nods. "Father is missing. Lenna is too. I am the remaining heir to the throne. The land needs guidance. I, Sarisa, will guide it."

He looms over her, and she gives him a look that says he better start talking. "Oh?" Her voice is ... dangerously calm.

Gilgamesh has posed:
"Y-yes! I have this...friend. And he's travelling. And something bad happened, that he wants to tell his friend, but he's not sure if he should. He's embarassed. And he went to me for advice!" That sounds like a plausible half-lie! Gilgamesh is actually quite pleased with himself; his voice gets steadier every minute. "And I was wondering what's more important - his friends or his prior obligation! That way I can better advise him. He made a promise, after all."

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
She looks at Gilgamesh, and Faris actually seems to believe him. (Okay, she does, MOSTLY, but there's a few seeds of doubt deep within that pirate-king brain.) The end result is that she actually thinks about his question, before biting her bottom lip.

"The... first person - the person he made the prior obligation to. Does the person hold some sort of power over the man? Like his soul, or something? If not, I would say he should..."

"Seek to break the obligation, and be with his friends. If there is a binding, then he should try to change it and break the obligation, or continue with the promise."

Gilgamesh has posed:
"Well, it's a contract. He can't just go back on a contract. My friend wouldn't know what to do, and there'd be consequences." A SIDE ORDER OF ELDRITCH DEATH.

"Like really bad consequences. Like they might...foreclose. On his house. I heard that term in Manhattan, they were talking about foreclosing on someone, so I heroically beat up the bankers and saved the poor man's money for him. It was very heroic, lots of fighting and shouting and men in blue suits getting beat up!"

"A-anyway," Gilgamesh gets back on track, "As I was saying! They might foreclose on his house if he goes against his contract, but the contract might get in the way of his friendship, and he doesn't want that! So that's bad on both sides! He can't be homeless" or dead "or hurt his friends!"

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
FAris raises a hand. "Gilgamesh, what did you agree too so many years ago before the other Warriors and I came together and you and I found each other, both of us lonely in the blue seas?" She asks this directly, because while Gil told a good half-lie, Faris, just...

Knows him far, far too well.

"You're worried. I know that. So you might as well /tell/ me."

Gilgamesh has posed:
"W-what?! How did you know...I-I mean, don't be silly, it's my friend who agreed to a deal that would get his house foreclosed on, not me! I never make bad deals! I'm Gilgamesh!" Gilgamesh points at himself.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
"Gil-ga-mesh." Faris' voice comes out in a quick lash at him.

"Don't you /dare/ do this to me - I know you, and I am getting upset, so you best start talking. Now."

Gilgamesh has posed:
"I caaaan't," Gilgamesh practically whines, looking really really hurt. "I can't say anything! I-I'm sorry, Sarisa, I...I can't say anything! I just can't! It's...it's..."

Click.

Okay. So. What he needed to do was defuse her anger. In the cunning part of Gilgamesh's brain, the part that has kept him alive for so very very long, a plan begins to formulate, the kind of plan that Gilgamesh usually gets in very big trouble for. He needed to draw away that anger! So he considers, for a brief moment, splashing water on her.

No, wait, bad idea.

He just grabs her by the waist and kisses her instead.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris looks bitter. she's not angry, she's bitter, she's /sad/ - she's sad that one o f the four most important people in her life is bound to something that he can't talk about, something that is likely going to get him into some seriously significant trouble.

However, then Gilgamesh just pulls her in for a very firm kiss, one that she breaks off, her lips thinning as she stares up at him, her green eyes wide, as she manages to get out:

"Well, yes, that was lovely, but Gil..."

"... nevermind." She gently attempts to pull herself out of his grip, restlessly redoing her long ponytail.

Gilgamesh has posed:
Gilgamesh lets her out of his grip. Haha! Mission completed. Gilgamesh scratches the side of his head, then shrinks, turning back into his more human-looking blonde self. "So! You're taking the throne back, huh? Country needs guidance, so you're gonna give it! Princess Sarisa, back on the throne. I guess...uh, I guess you'll be needing your knight, then. And that I should probably disguise myself! In case anyone recognizes me, I mean. I /am/ a worlds-famous travelling swordsman, after all!"

Yes. This is familiar. This is good. This is better.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Faris turns to look at Gilgamesh, before she speaks, water-tempered steel in her voice as she manages to get out:

"Until you are done with your obligations, Gilgamesh of the many blades and m--" She pauses, coming to a almost screech halt, before she takes a deep breath. "... until you are done with your obligations, I release you from your knighthood and ..."

She smiles. Sadly. "Your other obligations. To me."

Gilgamesh has posed:
Gilgamesh stands there for a moment, trying to process what /exactly/ just occured. He's quiet for a very, very long moment, just kind of thinking about it piece by piece, turning it over in his head. Then he shakes his head. It's a slow, careful consideration. He's trying very hard to figure out what to do, and what choice to make.

"I can't," he breathes, and there's real fear in his eyes - /real/, real legitimate fear. The kind of fear you don't get from normal people, or normal obligations, or normal agreements. He looks very much like he desperately wants to say something, but he's terrified that he'll be cut down on the spot, that he'll be killed instantly. "I can't, he'll know, if I tell you he'll know, please don't make me, Sarisa, please don't make me."

There's desperation in his voice, too - misery and fear and desperation all mingling together in this mixture of abject terror and despair.

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
"I'm not--" Faris tilts her head. He's using 'Sarisa' frequently. "Gilgamesh?" She asks, softly. "Do you not want to go back to whoever this is, or do you not want to be released from your job as my knight, to my princess?" Her lips purse as she reaches out to him, resting her hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not saying 'tell me'."

She sighs. "I'm saying, go do what you need to. Til then, don't worry about me."

Gilgamesh has posed:
He shakes his head, violently, blonde hair shaking as a terrified look crosses his very human face (it's probably kind of weird seeing him willingly taking his human form; he doesn't tend to like to be human when they're alone). The look of very *mortal* terror for the otherwise nigh-immortal creature is probably even worse; he's never looked like that, not for as long as Faris has known him, not for as long as he's been in the vicinity of her. "I don't want to! I don't want to go away, I don't want to go! I want to stay right here and stay a knight and be with you!"

Suddenly, he grabs her arm, very very hard; he's very strong, tremendously strong, and it's easy to forget that given his bumbling. His terrified, bright red eyes widen a little. "Sarisa, you can't go take the throne again. You can't. Don't do it, please. Please don't do it, I'm begging you. P-Please. D-don't take the throne, and d-don't turn me away. I can't..."

Gilgamesh looks like he's on the verge of tears. "I c-can't, S-Sarisa. I j-just c-can't. Please....p-please don't make me leave..."

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Sarisa - not Faris, but /Sarisa/ - stares up at Gilgamesh as he starts stammering and going all 'on-the-edge-of-tears'. Most of this is far, far past what Gilgamesh normally shares, as far as emotions go, not to mention his bruising grip on her arm. She tilts her head up, her green eyes worried especially as he says what he does.

things start clicking, and she...

Gasps.

"Oh gods and goddesses no. Oh /no/. Gilgamesh!" She turns to face him more fully, her free hand curling up into a fist as she gets a horrified look on her face. "Oh /no/..."

She shudders. "Oh, Gilgamesh." She whispers, finally, closing her eyes as her shoulders slump in on each other and she just sort of... droops in on herself. "Oh, /Gilgamesh/..." She says his name, making it sound like a note of sad finality.

Gilgamesh has posed:
The terror in his eyes is incredible: the way his breathing has changed; the fact that he is legitimately crying now, tears streaming down his face; the way his lips are quivering; the way he keeps looking over his shoulder, like he expects something to appear at any moment and simply end his life once and for all. The normally-fearless, millennial swordsman, the God of War, reduced to utterly nothing but tears by the mere whisper of whatever it is that he's caught up in, that he's being forced to do, that he's been put against. The fear is for more than just himself - it's for her, too, fear that something will happen that he can't avert if he even speaks. Gilgamesh's terror is so powerful, his whole body is shaking - Sarisa can feel it through his hands as the ship rocks from side to side, the shuddering of his body with that immortal terror.

"I can't," he repeats miserably, like a beaten dog; he sinks to his knees, lightening his grip on her significantly. His hands slide down to her hips, and his head dangles down, like he's been broken. "I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't, I can't! M-Might be watching right now! M-might be! C-can't!"

"D-don't want to leave! C-can't stay! Can't say!"

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
The fact that the 'normally-fearless, millennial swordsman' is reduced to tears by the hint, by the very touch of what he's getting yoinked back to doing, at the fact his calling has finally come,and she rocks with her ship, watching him sit there and cry - it's broken Faris' heart.

That, in and of itself, is a hard thing to do.

Kneeling down next to him, Faris shifts his grip and wraps him in a gentle, soft hug, humming faintly in her throat as she mutters into his ear, "We'll figure something out. I promise, you, I promise. I don't want to let you go. It was the only thing I could--"

"Think of." She whispers. "Oh, Gilgamesh..."

Gilgamesh has posed:
The ancient thing on the deck has turned back into his usual grey-skinned self. He is, admittedly, not titanic, but he's grey-skinned again, as he sits there and shudders and cries in pure, unrelenting teror. Exdeath is the greatest nightmare he's ever known. Gilgamesh can fight any foe, face down any fear, but Exdeath...Exdeath can consign him to a fate worse than death with a wave of his hand, from miles upon miles upon miles away. Exdeath can, with a shrug of his shoulders, send Gilgamesh hurtling into another world entirely, and not one that Gilgamesh can escape from. And he doesn't take kindly to traitors. Even if Exdeath doesn't know about this conversation - and he probably doesn't, the Crystal's influence is probably protecting Faris - Gilgamesh doesn't want to take even a single chance, not against Exdeath. He's seen what his master can do, what power he holds. He's seen a city crumble with a look; he's seen a village exiled with a blink.

Gilgamesh grabs at her shirt carefully, staring up at her, his once-more-white eyes blank and wide. Then they change red, then back to white; apparently, when he's unstable, he's really unstable. "D-don't. Throne, d-don't. P-please. /Please/."

"N-need to go. H-have to go. W-will protect you. C-can't hide for long..."

He stands up and wobbles, tears fading out of his eyes as he does so of his own free will. He stumbles a little as he grows back into his normal, giant form, wrapping his arms around her in a very tight (but not painful) hug.

"N-need to go. C-can't...stay."

He looks like he wants to say something else, but then he turns, wobbling towards the edge of the deck, and looks down at the ocean below.

Why couldn't Exdeath have just stayed in the darkness forever?

Faris Scherwiz has posed:
Sarisa-Faris caresses Gilgamesh's face with one hand, gently, comfortingly. He warns her, the only way he can, in the only words he has available - thanks to his own emotions, thanks to his own care for the woman in front of him. That, truly, cements Gilgamesh in Faris' circle of true friendship(love).

"I won't." She whispers. "I'll figure something out, I promise. IF you need help.. if you want to somehow fight him, or if you want to well..." Her voice falters - she was about to say 'warn her' - amongst other things - "... you know where I'll be."

"I fly my flag for freedom..." There is a sigh. "I love you." She whispers as Gilgamesh disappears.